Long Walk Wood - Latest Update

31st January 2024
Ref: Tree Safety Work in Long Walk Wood
Dear Residents of Aston and Weston
You will be aware that the permissive path through Long Walk Wood has
been closed since October of last year due to the risk to safety from dead
and declining trees along the pathway.
Further to our specialist Arboricultural Contractors' application to the
South Derbyshire District Council, licences and permissions have now
been granted by the District Council's tree officer to complete the safety
works required for us to be able to reopen the permissive path.
Works will commence on Monday 5th February 2024 and are anticipated
to be completed by Friday 23rd February 2024, weather permitting.
The permissive path through the woodlands will remain closed to the
public throughout this period.
- Our appointed contractors Glendale Services deploy a team of 3
specialist trained arboricultural operatives identifiable in Glendale
uniform, who will access the woodlands by foot.
- The woodlands will be accessed via Maple Drive and via Hanson's
access road.
- Work will be undertaken during daylight hours (anticipated between
8am to 5pm) Monday to Friday.
- During the first two weeks, works to dead and diseased trees will be
undertaken and small machinery such as a narrow tracked wood
chipper will be used (low noise level).
- Works will be undertaken by hand with minimal machinery to avoid
damage being caused to the woodlands.
- Where possible, ecopiles and informal habitats will be created, whilst
small branches will be chipped to provide ground cover.
- The team will be working with our Head Gardener and information
provided by the local community to ensure that all efforts are made to
protect local fauna and wildlife within the woodlands.
- Diseased timber will be prepared for removal within the woodlands.
- In the third week, a small alpine tractor and timber trailer will be used
to access the woodlands on the permissive path to safely extract
diseased timber from the woodlands. This will be loaded into a larger
vehicle for final removal, located at the woodland entrance of Maple
Drive.
- We are aware of waste collections on Tuesday's and will ensure our
extraction works avoid this busy period.
As soon as the woodlands are free from risk to residents, we will notify
residents via both Aston and Weston Parish council websites as well as
Richmond Village's Facebook page. Please follow these notice boards for
updates and information, including any changes to this timeline should
these be necessary due to unavoidable delays.
We would like to thank residents of this community for their support and
patience during this time of closure and look forward to soon reopening
the woodland path for all to enjoy.
Kind Regards,
Kerstin Taylor
Village Manager